What are the red "blood spots" on egg yolks?

[redhen]

I was just wondering..my family says its a fertilized egg....i told them no...but actually, i'm not very sure..lol...so, what is that little spot of blood you sometimes find on an egg yolk?, Thanks for any help, Wendy

 

[tfpets]

I believe it is called a meat spot, its something that came out of the hen, not from it being fertile. It happens to unfertile eggs too.
Tina

 

[redhen]

...

..meat spot?....what causes it?..thanks for the iinfo tina!

 

[Akane]

A blood spot is just that. A spot of blood that broke off from a blood vessel while the egg was forming. A meat spot is a piece of actual tissue that broke off.

 

[tfpets]

Heres my new answer! I found it somewhere else!!

QUESTION:
What causes blood in eggs that are freshly laid?
ANSWER:
BLOOD SPOTS:
Blood spots occur when blood or a bit of tissue is released along with a yolk. Each developing yolk in a hen's ovary is enclosed in a sack containing blood vessels that supply yolk building substances. When the yolk is mature, it is normally released from the only area of the yolk sac, called the "stigma" or "suture line", that is free of blood vessels. Occasionally, the yolk sac ruptures at some other point, causing blood vessels to break and blood to appear on the yolk or in the white. As an egg ages, the blood spot becomes paler, so a bright blood spot is a sign that the egg is fresh.

Blood spots occur in less than one percent of all eggs laid. They may appear in a pullet's first few eggs, but are more likely to occur as hens get older, indicating that it's time to cull. Blood spots may be triggered by too little vitamin A in a hen's diet, or they may be hereditary - if you hatch replacement pullets from a hen that characteristically lays spotted eggs, your new flock will likely do the same.

MEAT SPOTS
Meat spots are even less common than blood spots. They appear as brown, reddish brown, tan, gray or white spots in an egg, usually on or near the yolk. Such a spot may have started out as a blood spot that changed color due to chemical reaction, or it may be a bit of reproductive tissue. Since meat spots look unappetizing, cull a hen whose eggs characteristically contain them.

Tina

 

[Attack Chicken]

It's kinda common

 

[redhen]

wow! thanks so much for all that info Tina!..awesome..

, i really appreciate it. Wendy

 

[lovemychix]

I always thought it was fertilized. So how do u tell a fertilized egg from an unfertilized egg?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
There is a sticky at the top of this category that shows pics of an unfertilized egg vs. a fertilized one.
I don't bother to look that closely at mine. They are all fertilized, I know that and it doesn't matter.

 

[Akane]

The difference in fertilized and unfertilized eggs is actually just the difference in size of a tiny hardly noticeable white dot.